(1937-2025)

Sister Joan Leo Kehn, baptized Barbara Kehn, died on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at the Dominican Life Center in Adrian, Michigan. She was 88 years of age and in the 69th year of her religious profession in the Adrian Dominican Congregation.

Sister Joan Leo was born in Toledo, Ohio, to Leo and Mabel (King) Kehn. She graduated from Notre Dame Academy in Toledo and obtained a bachelor’s degree in English from Siena Heights College (University) in Adrian and a master’s degree in education from DePaul University in Chicago.

Sister Joan Leo ministered more than 65 years in education in Chicago, Rockford, Maywood, and Harvey, Illinois, and in Vero Beach, West Palm Beach, and Plantation, Florida. For 32 of those years, she served at St. Gregory School in Plantation, first as an elementary teacher and later as director of religious education, assistant reading/math specialist, and co-director of religious education. She also served in the Congregation’s Finance Office for two years. Sister became a resident of the Dominican Life Center in 2024.

Sister Joan Leo was preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her sister, Judith Ann Ouelette; other loving family members and friends; and her Adrian Dominican Sisters.

Visitation will be held from 6:30 to 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, in the gathering space of St. Catherine Chapel. The Vigil Prayer will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, in St. Catherine Chapel. A Funeral Mass will be offered in St. Catherine Chapel at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2025. Prayers of Committal will be held in the Congregation Cemetery. 

Those who are not attending services in person are welcome to participate via live stream at https://adriandominicans.org/Live-Stream.

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, MI, 49221. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Anderson-Marry Funeral Home, Adrian.

 

Left: Christmas Day, 1942. MIDDLE LEFT: First Holy Communion, 1945. MIDDLE RIGHT: Graduation from Notre Dame Academy, Toledo, Ohio, June 8, 1955. 

LEFT: Postulant Barbara Kehn with her parents, Mabel and Leo Kehn, on her Entrance Day, June 25, 1955. MIDDLE: Sister Joan Leo Kehn with her students at St. Gregory School, Plantation, Florida, October 1992. RIGHT: Sister Joan Leo in 1975, the early days of the Congregation’s Data Office.

LEFT: From left, Sisters Mar Ann Caulfield, Joan Leo Kehn, and Therese Margaret Roberts on the day that Sister Joan Leo receives the Lifetime Catechetical Leadership Award from the Archdiocese of Miami, 2015. RIGHT: Sisters Mary Alice Naour, left, and Joan Leo Kehn celebrate Christmas, December 28, 1999.

Members of the 2015 Diamond Jubilee (August and December) crowds are: back row, from left, Sisters Rosalie Esquerra, Norine Burns, Molly Nicholson, Sheila Delaney, and Nancyann Turner; row 5, from left, Sisters Kathleen Waters, Rose Celeste O’Connell, Rita Rose Sieg, and Marilyn Winter; row 4, from left, Sisters Frances Fitzpatrick, Leontia Cooney, Carol Coston, and Helen Therese Mayer; row 3, from left, Sisters Mary Ann Ennis, Barbara Ann Long, Margaret Manners, Mary Kastens, and Joan Leo Kehn; row 2, from left, Sisters Therese E. Allgeyer, Mary Hemmen, Anneliese Sinnott, Joan Mary, Jo Ann Lucas, and Elizabeth Gibbons; and front row, from left, Sisters Barbara Ann Stanek, Esther Ortega, Marilyn Uline, Arlene Seckel, Ann Ziemba, and Jovanna Stein.

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